Depressible flooring.



- T. M. BRINTNALL'. DEPRESSIBLE' FLOORING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4. 1315.

1L, lfiUlUfi. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 1- I: a. ,23 3 m C R 3 a b Fig-1 INVENTUR WITNESSES 7- T. M. BRINTNALL.

DEPBESSIBLE FLOORING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4,1915- Pateflted Apr. 18, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

THE. COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 00., WASHINGTON, D. c.

INVENTQR,

A I I 4- M HIS ATTURNEY T. M. BRI N TNALL.

DEPRESSIBLE FLOORING.

' APPLICATION FILED FEB- 4,1915- LlfiUlUfi. Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

5 SHEETSSHEET 4.

WITNESSES HIS A TDRNEIY THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 0., WASHINGTON, D. c.

T. M. BRINTNALL.

DEPRESSIBLE FLOORING.

APPLICATION FILED FEB- 4. ISIS- 1 9 1|. @UQ-ll. U6 Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

INVENTUR,

WITNESSES= WWW HIS A'IT f RNE - To all whom it may concern:

THOMAS M. BRINTNALL, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

DEPRESSIBLE FLOORING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 18, 1916.

Application filed February 4, 1915. Serial No. 6,050.

Be it known that I, THOMAS NALL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Los Angeles, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Depressible Flooring, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to depressible flooring, and more particularly to depressible flooring in which a section or certain area of flooring is to be lowered and again elevated to its normal level; movable floorings are employed for various purposes, for instance for bridging the pit in front of bank vault doors, when such doors are opened, so that a floor is provided with all sections or area thereof, such as the vault fioor,lobby or main floor and the floor area adjacent to the vault in the same horizontal plane. Flooring of this general character, as ordinarily constructed, requires the application of power, either manual or' from a suitable power plant, and in either case requires power transmitting mechanism for the apblication of such power to the work of lowering, elevating, or otherwise shifting such flooring.

This invention has for its object to provide depressible flooring which requires no application of power through power transmitting mechanism, such flooring or floor section readily sinking under the weight of the. operator when properly released by a voluntary act, and returning automatically to elevated position when again voluntarily released, such automatic return being made possible by the operator stepping off such depressible flooring or floor section.

A further object is to provide a flooring of the general character stated which will be superior in point of relative simplicity, taken in connection with inexpensiveness of construction and organization, positiveness and reliability in operation, and which will be generally superior in point of etiiciency and serviceability.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel and useful provision, formation, association and relative arrangement of parts, members and features, all as hereinafter described, shown in the drawings and finally pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings: Figure 1 is an isometric view illustrating an embodiment of the in,v

vention associated with a bank vault, the flooring being shown in depressed position; Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the vault door shown as opened and the flooring raised to the normal position; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the showing in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a vertical section of the flooring taken on the line ca -50", Fig. 3, and looking in the direction of the appended arrows, and showing in detail the construction and organiza' tion of the means of mounting and operating and controlling the depressible flooring member; Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line w -00 Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken on the line a200", Fig. 4, and looking inthe direction of the appended arrows; Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6, taken on the line 00 -00, Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of the appended arrows; Fig. 8 is an isometric view showing certain features of the controlling mechanism; Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line m;v, Fig. 4, and looking in the direction of the appended arrows; and, Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken on the line m ac Fig. 9, looking in the direction of the appended arrows.

Corresponding parts in all the figures are designated by the same reference characters.

Referring with particularity to the drawing, in the embodiment of the invention therein shown, A designates a depressible flooring member, B designates operating means therefor, C designates controlling means, D designates a bank vault and E designates a pit in which the flooring member A, operating means B, and, in part, the

controlling means C are installed.

The depressible floorlng member comprises a floor section or provided wlth depending supports 11 and 11 the supports 11 being disposed one adjacent to each cornor of the floor section a, and preferably vertically disposed and connected by cross braces 12; the floor section a being preferably built up or organized to match the main or general floor b of which it forms an extension or part, for service, when the flooring member is in elevated or normal posi tion. Cross braces 13 are provided for the supports 11*. This floor section a may comprise a base plate 14 provided with upwardly directed edge formations 15 a body of concrete or the like 15 being massed upon the bottom plate 15, the. same being finished ofi with ,a course of tile or the like 15, or

any other suitable material matching, preferably, the superficial formation or formation of the main floor 72. i

The flooring member A is held against transverse displacement and to a vertical path of movement by guide rollers 16 mounted upon a fixed base frame 17 by means of brackets 18, one such roller being provided for and bearing against each of the supports 11; and the flooring member A is held against longitudinal displacement by rolling contact with certain features of the operating mechanism presently to be described. Each of the supports 11 is provided with a laterally extending lug 19 and each of the supports 11 is provided with a laterally extending lug 20. These lugs 19 and. 20 may conveniently be made of heavy sheet metal strips riveted to the supports 11 and 11 as at 19 and 20 respectively. The supports 11 are each preferably of channel formation and provided each with an end wall 11 having an orifice 11 through which a cable or the like 21 is passed, such cable having its end secured to an adjustable block 11 as at 21. Adjusting screws 22 pass through the blocks 11 to adjust such blocks with respect to the end walls 11 of the supports 11. The floor section (4 projects over the supports 11 and 11 at all sides, such projection being greatest on that side which is adjacent to the vault, forming an overhanging ledge 23. Such ledge 23 is cut away as at 23 for nearly one-half the length of the floor section so as to provide a space for the door at of the vault D when such door is in open position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the ledge being further cut away as at 23 to accommodate the hinged support 24 of the vault door d.

The base frame 17 preferably comprises a pair of longitudinally extending side members 17 and 17", preferably of channel section, united by transverse frame members 17 and 17 which are preferably of channel section, the side frame members 17 and 17 resting upon ledges 25 and 26 at the end walls of the pit.

The operating means B comprises spaced transverse shafts 27 and 28, means 6 operatively coupling said shafts for joint movement, mutilated wheels 29 and 30 mounted on the shafts 27 and 28 respectively, the cables 21, and counter-balancing means 31. The shaft 27 is provided at its ends with pillow blocks 27 and 27 in which it is rotatably mounted, preferably upon antifriction bearings 27 and 27, the pillow block 27 being mounted upon the side frame member 17 and the pillow block 27 b being mounted upon the side frame member 17 The shaft 28 is provided at its ends with pillow blocks 28 and 28 in which it is rotatably mounted preferably upon antifriction bearings 28 and 28 the pillow block 28 being mounted upon the side frame member 17, and the pillow block 28 being mounted on the side frame member 17". The coupling means 0 preferably comprises pulleys 32 and 33 secured to the shafts 27 and 28 respectively, and flexible strips 34; and 35, preferably of thin metal. One end of each of the flexible strips 34 and is passed about the pulley 32 and secured thereto by means of a clamping block 32 and screws or the like 32 and an additional clamping block 32 fastened to the pulley with screws or the like 32 further secures the strips 34: and 35 against slippage. The other ends of the flexible strips 3a and 35 are passed about the pulley 33, the ends being secured by a clamping block 33 and screws or the like 33 and an additional clamping block 33 with its screws 33 further secures the strips against slipping and prevents the strips from slackening. The strip 34 in passing around the pulley 32 passes beneath the same while the strip 35 in passing around the pulley 32 passes over the same and that end of the strip 3t which passes around the pulley 33 passes over such pulley 33 while that end of the strip 35 passing around the pulley 33 passes beneath the same, this arrangement resulting in a crossing of the strips 34 and 35 midway between the shafts 27 and 28, as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5, thus uniting the shafts in such a manner that rotation thereof must be in opposite directions. The mutilated wheels 29 are secured to the shaft 27, one adjacent to each end of such shaft 27, as by keys or the like 29. These wheels are cut away above and below the shaft 27 as wheel circumference at certain points is not required in the operation of the em bodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings and space may be conserved by such cutting away of unnecessary wheel portions, segments only 29 and 29 of each of such wheels 29 being used. The mutilated wheels 30 are secured to the shaft 28, one adjacent to each end of such shaft 28, as by keys or the like 30. These wheels, like the wheels 29 are cut away above and below the shaft for the purposes described in connection with the wheels 29, only segments 30 and 30 of each of such wheels 30 being used.

The cables 21, preferably four of which are employed, are each adjustably secured at one end at the lowermost point of each of the four supports 11 as hereinbefore described and pass upwardly in the supports 11, such supports being preferably slotted or of channel section as described, one pair of such cables 21 emerging from the channels at the sectors 30 of the wheels 30 and overlying such sectors 30, thence passing across the top portion 30 of the mutilated wheels 30 where they are secured by means of clamping blocks 30 and cap screws 30 the other ends of these cables passing over the sector faces 30 and downwardly to a transverse counter-balance-carrying bar 35 where the cable ends 21 are made fast, one at each end of the bar 35. The other pair of cables 21 likewise pass upwardly in a pair of the supports 11 and emerge from the channels in such supports at the sector faces 29*, thence passing one over each of the mutilated wheels 29, being secured against slipping by means of blocks 29 and cap screws 29 each cable then extending over one of the sector faces 29 and downwardly to a transverse counter-balance-carrying bar 36 where the ends 21 of such cables are secured, one at each end of the transverse bar 36. The counter-balancing means preferably consists of a plurality of bar weights 37 ranging longitudinally of the pit and riding on the transverse bars 35 and 36, reinforced concrete being found a suitable material from which to manufacture such weights.

The controlling means C comprises latch members mounted upon the base member 17,

I spring means for urging the bars in one direction, means for temporarily checking spring action, and means whereby the latch members may be moved against the spring tension. The latch members consist of longitudinally slidable bars 38 and 39, preferably constructed of angle iron. The bar 38 is mounted for reciprocation on the inner face of the channel frame members 17 by means of brackets 40, also preferably constructed of angle iron and riveted or bolted to the channel member l7 as at 41. The angle iron bar 38 is provided with slots 38 in its horizontal web, cap screws 38 passing through such slots and into the brackets 40. The overhanging horizontal ledge 40 of each bracket 40 is provided with a notch 42 and the horizontal web of the angle iron bar 38 is provided with notches 43, one to correspond to each of the notches 42 in the bracket 40. The notches 42 and 43 may be brought into registration by longitudinal movement of the bar 38, such notches however being normally out of registration as the bar is held at one end of its travel by a tension spring 44 of the spring means for urging the bars, such spring being secured at one end to the bar 38 by a screw or the like 44, and secured at its other end to the side frame member 17 by a screw or the like 44. The longitudinally movable bar 39, preferably of angle iron, is mounted for reciprocation on the inner face of the side frame member 17 by means of brackets 45 riveted or bolted to the side frame member 17* as at 46. The angle iron bar 39 is provided with slots 39 in its horizontal web, cap screws 39 passing through such slots and into the brackets 45, the overhanging horizontal ledge 45 of each of the brackets 45 is provided with a notch 47 and the horizontal web of the angle iron bar 39 is pro vided with notches 48 one to correspond to each of the notches 47 in the brackets 45. The notches 47 and 48 may be brought into registration by longitudinal movement of the bar 39, such notches however being normally out of registration as the bar is held at one end of its travel by a tension spring 49, of the spring means for urging the bars, such spring being secured at one end to the bar 39 by a screw or the like 49 and secured at its other end to the side frame member 17 by a screw or the like 49 The bars 38 and 39 are provided at their ends 38 and 39 with horizontal pins 38 and 39 respectively. The means for temporarily checking spring action consists of a pawl 50 rotatably mounted upon the shaft 27 between the hub 29 of one of the wheels 29 and the pillow block 27, and a block 51 on the upper surface of the angle iron bar 39. The pawl 50 is provided with an inwardly extending pin 50 which is engaged by a projecting ledge or lug 52, provided 011 that wheel 29 which is adjacent to the pawl, at a certain point in the rotation of such wheel. The means whereby the latch members may be moved against the spring tension is shown as comprising a vertical reciprocating rod 53 provided at its upper end, which projects slightly above the normal level of the floor 7), with an enlarged button 54, a shaft 55 ranging transversely of the base 17, a horizontal lever 56 secured to the shaft 55 and operatively connected with the rod 53, and downwardly depending bifurcated arms 57 and 58 secured to the shaft 55 and engaging the pins 38 and 39 of the latch members, respectively. The rod 53 is slidably mounted in a frame work or housing 59, such housing being embedded in the floor 5. The rod is bifurcated at its lower end as at 53 to receive the end of the lever 56, pins 53 confining the end of the lever 56 to its position between the furcations 53 and serving to establish proper working relation between the lever 56 and the rod The shaft 55 is rotatably mounted on the transverse channel member 17, bearings 55 and 55 being provided on such channel member. The arms 57 and 58 are secured to the shaft 55 to rotate therewith and are disposed inwardly of the bearings 55 and 55 respectively, the bases 57 and 58 of such arms 57 and 58 preventing longitudinal movement of the shaft 55. As the depending bifurcated ends 57 and 58 of the arms straddle the pins 38 and 39 of the latch members, the springs 44 and 49 acting through the latch members, the arms 57 and 58, the shaft 55, the lever 56 and the rod 53 serve to keep the button 54 normally in raised position.

Stops, consisting of upright bars 59, are

60. comprise a depending threaded rod and placed on the base frame adjacent to each corner thereof and are of proper length to arrest the downward movement of the floor and support such weight as may be on the flooring while it is in depressed position. Cushioning means f and 9 may be provided at each end of the flooring member, the cushioning means f comprising a depending threaded rod 60 provided with an adjustable nut 60*, a compression spring 60 surrounding the rod 60 below the adjustable nut 60 the rod then passing through a bore at 60 in the transverse frame member 17, a lower compression spring 60 being provided on the rod 60 and a further adjustable nut 60 being threaded on the end of the rod The cushioning means 9 may likewise an adjustable nut 60*, an upper compression coil spring 60 surrounding the rod 60 below the adjustable nut 60 ,v a lower compression spring 60 and a further adjustable nut 60 threaded on to the end of the rod 60, the rod 60 of the cushioning means 9 however first passing through a bridge partition provided on the transverse frame member 17, such member 17 being provided with a suitable bore at 60 the bridge likewise being provided with a bore at 60 The lugs 19 of the supports 11 and the lugs 20 of the supports 11 co-act, at their lower edges 19 and 20", with the latch members 38 and 39 in supporting the floor section when in elevated position, adjusting screws IS being provided in the base of the brackets 18 in the direct vertical path of the lugs 19, the upward travel of the floor section a being limited by these adjusting screws 18 the provision of this accurate adjustment making it possible to secure a perfect alinement of the upper surface of the floor section-a with the surface of the general floor b. The upper edges 20 of the lugs 20 co-act with the latch members 38 and 39 to hold the floor section in its lowered position.

The sector faces 29 of the wheels 29 and the faces 30 of the wheels 30 have a rolling contact with their respective flooring member supports 11 at the edges ll thereof, this arrangement of sectors and supports serving to prevent longitudinal displacement or motion of the depressible flooring member in a manner. similar to that in which the rollers 16 prevent lateral displacement of the depressible flooring member.

The operation, method of use and advantages of the improved depressilole flooring will be readily understood from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and the following statement: Counter-balancing weights 3'7, sufliciently heavy to rotate the mutilated wheels 29 and 30 and keep the floor section a in ra sed po ition, are provided, this requiring only a trifle more weight in the counter-balance than the weight of the flooring section and supports to be balanced thereby, such slight excess of counter-balance weight overcoming the slight friction of the operating mechanism 13 and speedily causing the elevating of the flooring member from depressed to raised position when permitted so to rise by the position of the latch members. Let it be assumed that the floor section is in the position illustrated in Fig. 2, the door of the bank vault being accommodated in the cutaway portion 23 of the overhanging ledge of the floor section a, the floor of the vault being on a level with the main floor I) and the floor section a. A removable or foldable bridge or gang plank 71,, of thin sheet metal or other suitable material, being provided to bridge the downwardly extending threshold of the vault. Such downwardly extending threshold being recessed to accommodate the oomplementaril formed vault door (Z. If it is now desired to close the vault door, the gang plank is removed or folded into the vault, the operator merely steps on the button 54: depressing the same and thereby operating the latch members 38 and 39 and steps on the fioor section a, the weight of the operator added to the weight of the floor section over-balances the eounter-balancing weights. the floor section a sinking until it assumes the position illustrated in Fig. 1. The floor section being now lower than the lowermost edge of the vault door, such door may be swung to closed position. hen it is desired to again cause the floor section to be raised to the level of the main floor, either before or after the vault door has again been opened, all that is necessary is for the operator to step up from the floor section to the main floor Z) and again step on the button 54 causing the release of the lowered floor section from the latch members, and the counter weights over-balancing the floor section a will cause it to again assume its normal raised position.

It will be understood from the description of the improved depressible flooring that the horizontal webs of the angle iron latch members 38 and 39 bridge the notches 42 in the supports 40 and the notches 4:7 in the brackets 45, respectively, when the floor section is in uppermost or lowermost position, the springs 4-4: and -l9 tending to keep the notches -13 and 4-8 in the webs of the angle iron latches out of registration with the notches 4:2 and 457 in the supports -l-0 and 45 respectively hen the operator depresses the button 54 and through the rod 53 depresses the lever 56 thereby rotating the shaft 55 the arms 57 and 58 acting through the pins 38 and 89 throw the an gle iron latches to the limit of their travel,

as determined vby the length of the slots 38 and 89*, against the tension :of the springs 44 and '49. "When the angleiron latches 38 and 39 have been so moved to the limit of their travel the notches 43 in the web of the angle iron latch 38 register with the notches 42 provided in the horizontal ledge 40 of the brackets 40 and the notches 48 in the horizontal web of the angle iron latch 39 register with the notches 47 pro vided in the horizontal ledge of the brackets 45; and the lugs 19 and 20 provided on the supports 11 and 11 respectively may pass through such registering notches in the angle irons and their respective brackets, in either an upward or downward direction according to the direction in which the flooring member A is to be moved. When the operator depresses the button 54 preparatory to stepping on to the floorsection a to lower the same the angle iron latch 39 is being moved so that its notches will register with the notches of its supports and allows the pawl 50 to drop behind the block 51 temporarily locking the angle iron 39 and through the shaft 55 with its arms 57 and 58, the angle bar 38 in position to maintain registration of the respective notches in the angle iron latches and their brackets. If the operator then steps on the flooring sec tion a the same may descend, the lugs 19 and 20 passing through their respective registering notches, until the mutilated wheels 29 and 30 have turned near the limit of their travel, when the pin will be engaged by the lug 52 of the adjacent wheel 29, the pawl 50 being lifted away from the block 51, the springs 44 and 47 will exert a pull on the angle iron latches tending to draw the notches out of registration and as soon as the lugs 20 on the supports ll have passed through their respective notches the spring will draw the horizontal web of the latches 38 and 39 over the top edges 20 of the respective lugs 20 thereby causing the automatic latching down of the floor section when it has reached its downward limit of travel. It is evident that the lugs 20 should be properly proportioned as to vertical length from the lower edge 20 to the upper edge 20 to correspond to the distance which it is intended the flooring sec tion should travel and their position on the supports 11 is such that when the flooring member has settled and rests on the stops 59 the latches will just ride over the edges 20 of such lugs :20 to prevent the flooring section from again rising when the weight of the operator is removed, another depres sion of the button 54, which assumes its highest position when the latches have covered the lugs 20, is necessary to unlatch the flooring section to allow the same to rise. The cushioning springs 60 and 60' do not take effect until the floor section has almost reached "its limit of travel, checking any undue velocity of the flooring member and such springs assist somewhat in overcoming the inertia of the flooring member when such flooring member is to have its position shifted.

It is obvious that it is the stored energy resultant upon depression of the flooring member by the weight of the operator that causes said member to rise.

Having thus disclosed my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A flooring member adapted to be dcpressed by the weight of an operator stepping thereon, positioned adjacent to a door operatively unconnected with said member, and mounted to swing above said member when said member is in depressed position; and means for elevating said flooring member, means normally locking said flooring member against depression or elevation, and controlling means for said locking means; said elevating means exerting slightly more energy than required to elevate said flooring member; said controlling means comprising means for releasing said locking means, automatically operating means for tempo rarily rendering said locking means inoperative, and means for freeing said locking means from inoperative position at a pre determined point in the descent of the flooring member.

2. A depressible flooring member positioned adjacent to a door operatively unconnected with said member, and mounted to swing above said member when said member is in depressed position; and means whereby the same is movably supported and operated; said means comprising a counterweight, a base, a plurality of horizontal rock shafts on said base, and a wheel member on each of said rock shafts, a flexible connection extending over each of said wheel members and having one of its ends connected to the flooring member and its other end connected to said counter-weight.

3.1K depressible flooring member positioned adjacent to a door operatively unconnected with said member, and mounted to swing above said member when said member is in depressed position; and means whereby the same is movably supported and operated; said means comprising a counterweight, a base, a plurality of horizontal rock shafts on said base, a wheel member on each of'said rock shafts, a flexible connection extending over each of said wheel members and having one of its ends connected to the flooring member and its other end connected to said counter-weight; and means for causing the joint operation of said rock shafts.

4. A. depressible flooring member positioned in a pit provided in a floor to accommodate swinging movement of the lower portion of a vault door operatlvely unconnected with said member, said member being movable up or down when the front door is open or closed and preventing movement of the vault door when in upper position, means acting automatically and normally urging said member upwardly to the level of the floor and adapted to yield upon temporary imposition otthe weight of an operator and store energy for the next upward movement of said member, and releasable means for positively locking said member at the floor level or in depressed position.

5. A depressible flooring member adapted to extend flush with the main flooring adjacent to a vault and likewise with the vault flooring when either the vault door is open or closed, and to accommodate swinging movement of the Vault door, when such flooring member is in lowered position, said depressible flooring member being positioned in a pit providedin the main flooring In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscrlbing witnesses.

THOMAS M. BRINTNALL.

Witnesses:

ALFRED H. DAEI-ILER, TYCIE FULLEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtainedfor five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. 0. 

